When Ambition Replaces a Calling

Broken People, Faithful God

Fearful Faith and a Faithful God

Judges 6 & 7

43 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”
Matthew 12:43-45 (NLT)

When Ambition Replaces a Calling

• Judges 8:1-3
  • Response in Humility
  • Acknowledges God
• Judges 8:4-9

Pride (Chapter 8)

• Entitlement
  • James 4:6 (NLT)
    • ⁶ And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
      “God opposes the proud
          but gives grace to the humble.”
  • Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)
    • ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
          do not depend on your own understanding.
      ⁶ Seek his will in all you do,
          and he will show you which path to take.
  • Judges 8:13-17
• Vengeance
  • Romans 12:17-21
  • Judges 8:22-27
• Hypocrisy
  • Matthew 23:25-28
  •  Romans 12:9 (NLT)
    • “⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.”
  • James 1:22, 26 (NLT)
    • “²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”
    • “²⁶ If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.”
  • Matthew 15:18 (NLT)
    • “¹⁸ But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.”
  • Romans 12:2 (NLT)
    • “² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
  • Judges 8:28-32
• Self-Centered
  • James 3:16 (NLT)
    • ^“16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.”
  • Philippians 2:3-4 (NLT)
    • “³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.“

Abimelech (Chapter 9)

“my father is king”

• Judges 9:7-21
• Proverbs 18:10 (NLT)
  • “¹⁰ The name of the Lord is a strong fortress;
        the godly run to him and are safe.”

Am I truly seeking God’s glory, or have I subtly begun building my own kingdom in His name?

What do those closest to me see—someone who is humbly pointing others to God, or someone slowly building my own importance?